Limit-pricing as Bertrand equilibrium

Summary. We consider a Bertrand duopoly model with increasing returns to scale where one of the firms have a cost advantage and prices vary over a grid. We find that typically more than one equilibria exist. However, there are only two perfect equilibria. Moreover, as the size of the grid becomes small, both these equilibria converge to the limit-pricing outcome. Received: February 25, 2000; revised version: January 9, 2001     

Institutional Ownership, Strategic Choices and Corporate Efficiency: Evidence from Japan

Based on the tenets of capital allocation systems theory, stewardship theory, and 'going concern' concept of business, institutional ownership is proposed to affect corporate productivity, both directly and indirectly, in large Japanese corporations through a set of four firm-level choices: product/market development, R&D intensity, capital intensity, and leverage. Using data on 118 corporations drawn from five industry sectors in Japan, and applying a partial mediation technique, this study tests an integrated, causal model of the relationships among these variables. Results show mixed support for the model. No direct relationship between institutional ownership and productivity is observed. However, institutional ownership affects productivity indirectly through R&D intensity and leverage. Although product/market development and capital intensity also affect productivity, institutional ownership has no significant relationship with them.     

REGIME DEPENDENT EFFECT OF OUTPUT GROWTH ON OUTPUT GROWTH UNCERTAINTY: EVIDENCE FROM OECD COUNTRIES

This paper studies the impact of output growth on output growth uncertainty by considering two important issues hitherto not properly and adequately addressed to in the existing empirical studies specifying this relationship. These are: (i) the possible existence of a threshold level of output growth, and the consequent identification of two regimes characterized by high and low output growth, and (ii) whether or not the coefficient capturing the causal link is different in these two output growth states. This paper proposes a regime switching model to study this asymmetric effect for 16 OECD countries. Based on monthly time‐series observations, our results strongly support that the impact varies significantly between the two output growth regimes with the coefficient in the high growth regime being negative for majority of the countries.     

Societal institutions and HRM practices: an analysis of four European multinational subsidiaries in Bangladesh

Using the ‘societal-effect’ approach, a variant of the institutional theory developed and tested in Europe, this study investigates the impact of societal institutions on human resource management (HRM) practices of European multinational subsidiaries in Bangladesh, which is now on the list of the Next-11 economies of the world. In-depth case studies of four European multinational subsidiaries revealed the presence of different degrees of influence – partly attributable to societal effect – on the human resource practices of these subsidiaries. Our study added a new dimension to the interface between the strong and weak institutions and how such interfacing accords both legitimacy and reverse legitimacy to MNC subsidiaries and their societal institutions respectively. Another interesting finding of the study is the emergence of political system as a societal institution and, hence, a determinant of HRM practices in these subsidiaries. The study's implications are given.     

Adoption of new technology and joint venture instability

We consider a joint venture between a local firm from a less developed country, and a foreign multinational. In a dynamic two period model, we demonstrate that the availability of new technology can trigger a joint venture breakdown, a result that is consistent with the empirical evidence. We find that such breakdown is more likely if the MNC is relatively patient, or, in contrast to the existing literature, there is an increase in the level of demand. Moreover, our results are robust to alternative assumptions regarding bargaining power and control.     

Shannon's Entropy and Its Generalisations Towards Statistical Inference in Last Seven Decades

Starting from the pioneering works of Shannon and Weiner in 1948, a plethora of works have been reported on entropy in different directions. Entropy‐related review work in the direction of statistical inference, to the best of our knowledge, has not been reported so far. Here, we have tried to collect all possible works in this direction during the last seven decades so that people interested in entropy, specially the new researchers, get benefited.     

Designing a reverse logistics network for optimal collection, recovery and quality-based product-mix planning

This study proposes an integrated, reverse logistics supply chain planning process with modular product design that produces and markets products at different quality levels. A mixed integer programming (MIP) model formulates the overall planning process required to maximize profit by considering the collection of returned products, the recovery of modules and the proportion of the product mix at different quality levels. This paper proposes the collection of returnables (end-of life, defective, product under warranty) through retail outlets combined with the recovery of modules from the collected products using a network of recovery service providers. The proposed modular product design approach would create a design criterion that provides an improved recovery process at a lower cost. This study uses a total supply chain view that considers the production, transportation and distribution of products to customers, while a numerical problem illustrates the applicability of the models.     

Labor Market Policies as Instruments of Industry Policy: What Can Europe Learn from Southeast Asia?

Abstract . It seems there is a pessimistic view about the need and effectiveness of industry policy in an era of unprecedented globalization. The discussion about industry policy has been mostly on the fiscal, credit, and tariff measures, which are generally designed to favor particular activities. However, the rationale for industrial policy does not have to be the infant industry argument or market failures and knowledge spillover. In advanced industrial countries, the rationale for industry policy arises from the need to constantly restructure their economies to maintain competitiveness. The lesson that mature democracies can learn from East and Southeast Asia is the importance of consensual policy making, especially in the realm of the labor market. Such policies have not only helped them maintain macroeconomic stability but also accelerated industrial restructuring.     

Buffering in evacuation management for optimal traffic demand distribution

This paper presents a new framework for managing congestion during emergency evacuations. The algorithm allows a long link of the network to be used as a buffer to keep the traffic flow moving in. Concurrently, a detour trigger time is estimated to keep the traffic under-saturated in the buffer zone and minimize the total travel time. The integration algorithm presented in this paper is an efficient mathematical solution for travel time cost calculation. A case study is presented to demonstrate the efficacy of the traffic demand buffering strategy developed in this research for managing the evacuation flow.     

Cultural influences on new product adoption of affluent consumers in India

The purpose of the study was to explore how individual/personal and group-level factors influence Indian consumers' adoption of new food products. The results reflect the interdependence of consumers' individual views and beliefs with those of the group. Indian consumers' perceived characteristics of new foods and their innovativeness are key personal-level factors in impacting their new food purchase decisions. Reflecting collectivist tendencies, interpersonal communication sources and subjective norms at the group level are important mediators of Indian consumers' new food purchases. Marketing implications for food businesses are discussed.